


Light and Sweet

by MizushimaHikari



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Awkwardness, Crushes, Cute, Dorks in Love, M/M, Roommates, Stupidity, deadlines, the coffeeshop's unnamed but it's clearly a starbucks, yet another coffeeshop au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-07-16 03:38:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7250452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MizushimaHikari/pseuds/MizushimaHikari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James has a crush on the cute barista at the local coffee shop. He’s too shy to ask him out until his roommate gives him a nudge…</p>
            </blockquote>





	Light and Sweet

Today, just like every other day, James followed his schedule. He walked two blocks to the coffee shop on Nassau St, entered the establishment promptly at 9:12 am, and surreptitiously ogled the barista while he got his daily fix of caffeine. 

And today, just like every other day, they performed their well-practiced routine. The barista, whose name James believed was Thomas, raised his eyebrows in recognition as James approached the cash register. James handed Thomas his debit card, holding the card so as to maximize physical contact they had as the card traded hands. In one swift movement, Thomas swiped the card while handing James his usual (a large vanilla caffe latte with two shots of espresso, made in advance since Thomas knew what James ordered every day), with James’s name written on the side in impeccable handwriting. All the while, James marveled at the way Thomas’s shirt sleeves clung to his bulging biceps. Thomas gave James his card and receipt, and James left the coffee shop feeling giddy. 

And for the rest of the day, James did what ordinary graduate students did. He attended his courses. He held office hours for the undergraduate political science course he was TAing. He went to the library to read some papers and work on his own research. And at night, he returned to his apartment, where he was greeted by his housemate, Alex. 

“Hello,” said James. 

“Oh, hey! How was your day?” said Alex. 

“I saw Thomas today!” James gushed, a giddy smile disrupting his normally somber expression. “He’s so handsome, and he has such nice arms and – ”

“No!” Alex interrupted. “You’ve talked about him every day for the last month! I don’t want to hear about him anymore! Of course you fucking saw him today! He works there.” 

James blushed, his face a mix of guilt and glee. 

Alex exhaled and then spoke more gently, “I will never understand you. If you love this guy, go get him. What are you waiting for?” 

“What if he … says no?” James asked. 

“Then good fucking riddance. Why like someone who doesn’t like you?” Alex replied flippantly. A moment too late, he noticed that James had visibly deflated at his words. 

“Come on, it’ll be better just to get it over with,” Alex said. A sudden spark of inspiration struck him. “How about I set you a deadline? You have until next Friday to ask him out.”

James gaped. “But but but – ”

“No buts! I’m being perfectly reasonable,” Alex retorted, an evil grin plastered across his face. 

James knew that deadlines were his weakness. He could accomplish the impossible as long as he knew there was a deadline. One time, as an undergrad, when a particularly ruthless professor assigned a group project that involved writing twenty-five essays in a week, James wrote twenty-nine. (Alex wrote fifty-one, and their partner, John Jay, that lazy fuck, only wrote five.) 

“Alright, I’ll meet the deadline,” James relented. A few minutes of silence passed, during which Alex read a biography and James stared into space.

“Thanks for helping me with my love life,” James added. 

“Anytime,” said Alex. 

*

By Thursday, James had to reevaluate his abilities to meet deadlines. It evidently didn’t apply to asking a certain sexy barista on a date. For the last week or so, James hadn’t changed his interactions with Thomas at all. He, like always, exchanged money for coffee and caressed Thomas’s hand as furtively as possible. James told himself that he didn’t try because he was distracted by Thomas’s warm eyes or hypnotic voice, but after that Thursday morning, he concluded he was too shy. 

James went through the motions for the rest of the day. As he responded to student email and read political science papers and jotted down research ideas, he pondered his situation. He never ever missed deadlines, and he sure wasn’t planning to, even if it were merely a stupid deadline set by his roommate. 

James went back to his apartment sullen, walked by Alex without saying a word, and slammed his bedroom door shut. He plopped down at his desk, a nervous wreck. James simply couldn’t figure out how to overcome his meekness. In a last ditch attempt, he picked up his favorite fountain pen to begin writing down a list of possible methods. Before he could grab a sheet of paper, James paused to examine the pen in his hand, contemplating its cool, heavy, comforting weight. 

He knew how he would ask out Thomas. 

*

Friday morning. James went to 100 Nassau St, walking more like a soldier marching onto the battlefield than a zombie in need of caffeine. He had woken up an hour earlier to choose the perfect outfit (his best wool coat over a pair of slim-fit trousers) and to remember to put an object in his pocket. He had spent an hour making it last night. It was a lavender rectangular sheet of cardstock, no bigger than a business card. On it, James had written, in his best script, his first name, phone number, and “Are you free tomorrow?” 

At 9:10, James shoved open the coffee shop’s door. To his surprise, he found Thomas looking absolutely flustered as an undergrad girl clad in a tight, low-cut sweater draped herself over the counter separating the customers from the baristas. Thomas’s eyes bugged out slightly more when he saw James. 

“Look, ma’am – ” Thomas began.

“Maria,” said the girl.

“Maria, I’m flattered, but I’ve already got plans for Saturday,” Thomas said. 

The girl – Maria – stood up, her eyes narrowed. “Well. If your plans change, you have my number.” She spun around and strode out of the coffee shop, her high-heeled boots clacking rhythmically on the wooden floor. 

After a moment of tension, Thomas called out, “James! Good to see you! You’ll have to wait today. As you can see, I got a bit held up.” 

James desperately wanted to avoid thinking about the incident, so naturally, his dumb fat mouth just had to ask, “What happened?” 

Thomas answered as he wrote James’s usual order on the side of a paper cup. “You might not believe it, but I get hit on a lot at this job. That particular girl’s been making moves on me every day this week. Honestly, I’ve got no plans tomorrow so far; I just told a little white lie, but she won’t know what we know,” he said as he winked at James. 

James remarked, “Isn’t it flattering when girls show interest in you?”

Thomas looked up at James while making coffee. “It was flattering at first. Now it makes me feel weird. It’d be different if they hit on me when I wasn’t working. When I’m here, they think I like them, but I’m just being polite, and I can’t tell them off ‘cause they’re customers. Anyway, here’s your coffee. Have a nice day!”

“Thanks,” James mumbled as he walked out of the shop. 

Once James was outside, he slouched in disappointment. He took the lavender card out of his pocket and traced its edges and his fine penmanship, cringing at his foolish self and the futility of it all. Dejected, he took a sip of his latte. 

He almost spit out his coffee. It was much too light and sweet, more like a coffee-inspired dessert in liquid form than actual coffee. Angrily, he rotated the cup to see if he had been given the wrong drink. 

In neat, round handwriting, Thomas had written,  
Thomas  
919-413-1776  
Call me!  
P.S. Yes, I had to ruin your coffee to get your attention. It’s totally worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> I can’t believe it’s Jefferson and Madison, of all the characters in existence, who convinced me to make the leap from fanfic reader to writer. 
> 
> The title is from LMM’s In the Heights. 
> 
> I imagined Mads and Ham as Princeton grad students. I have no idea how Jeffs fits into this, but I just needed him as an awesome barista. 
> 
> James Madison is my spirit animal. That is all.


End file.
